Sideshow Ralph McQuarrie Stormtrooper Statue

[Darth Waller]

furyfail

 

[clutch]

Ugh. Four hundred dollars.

 

[KingB]

I know people are flipping about the price but if it comes out looking stellar I don't see why that's a problem. Would you rather it be 350.00 and plagued with problems? Not saying it will either way but if SS has increased it's prices to better control QC I will gladly pay a bit more for it.

 

[Jagjaguwar]

Lots of people saying added cost is due to SS increasing QC. Since when do they care about QC?

This thing is no less likely to have problems at $400 than if it was $375, $350 or even $300. Maybe it'll turn out fine, but more or less money won't really have anything to do with it. Let's not kid ourselves.

 

[starscream0]

I finished up the last of my rewards points on the R5 preorder. I have a zero balance currently...

However...










I just ordered this McQuarrie Stormtrooper!

Congrats!

 

[KingB]

Lots of people saying added cost is due to SS increasing QC. Since when do they care about QC?

This thing is no less likely to have problems at $400 than if it was $375, $350 or even $300. Maybe it'll turn out fine, but more or less money won't really have anything to do with it. Let's not kid ourselves.

I believe recently they have. Well if SS gets tired of people returning sub par product then maybe they will improve. Only time may tell but I am optimistic since many of the pieces recently have turned out quite nice. Maybe a fluke but I hope not.

 

[starscream0]

I believe recently they have. Well if SS gets tired of people returning sub par product then maybe they will improve. Only time may tell but I am optimistic since many of the pieces recently have turned out quite nice. Maybe a fluke but I hope not.

I agree...I think their quality control has improved over the last few PF's at least.

 

[CtrlAltElite]

I def think there QC has improved. I think WW had so many issues they really didnt have a choice. If they produce quality products with little returns, they make more money which can go towards better qc and factories with will result in more sales bc people know there qc is not sub par. That said, givin there result qc increase, it'll take more than a few to change peoples mind. Hope they keep it going.

 

[El Mule]

I know people are flipping about the price but if it comes out looking stellar I don't see why that's a problem. Would you rather it be 350.00 and plagued with problems? Not saying it will either way but if SS has increased it's prices to better control QC I will gladly pay a bit more for it.

There should be no "QC extra fee" simply because this is one of the easiest paint job I've ever seen. I'd agree with you if this had some kind of intricate paint job, say, I wouldn't mind paying 50$ extra for the next Red Sonja PF if this guarantees I get the skin tones painted properly. In a statue made by literally three colors (white, grey, black), I don't see the point.
Even then, I would be super suspicious... I mean, the P2 Maquette is supposed to be so expensive due to the intricate paint job - and we're discovering now that they're using decals on a good chunk of the body and on the head sculpt.

 

[KingB]

There should be no "QC extra fee" simply because this is one of the easiest paint job I've ever seen. I'd agree with you if this had some kind of intricate paint job, say, I wouldn't mind paying 50$ extra for the next Red Sonja PF if this guarantees I get the skin tones painted properly. In a statue made by literally three colors (white, grey, black), I don't see the point.
Even then, I would be super suspicious... I mean, the P2 Maquette is supposed to be so expensive due to the intricate paint job - and we're discovering now that they're using decals on a good chunk of the body and on the head sculpt.

There is more to it than that. Blacks, grey and white can all be shaded. It can make a huge difference in the depth of a piece. It can make a 50 dollar difference whether you think so or not. Beside that the extra money may not completely based on QC alone. I'm sure the price hike may cover other areas of the business not necessarily to make them more wealthy. In the end BOTH of us are speculating here so it's just friendly conversation more than anything.

 

[furystorm]

Honestly, I'm far more concerned about the paint finish on this piece. The subtlety of the shading looks difficult to reproduce in a convincing manner. At $400, this piece will need to be pretty close to perfect out of the box, or it's going back for a full refund.

It will be over a year before we know.

 

[KingB]

That's part of what I'm saying. White Greys and blacks CAN be difficult to pull off.

 

[El Mule]

This is what we're talking about:

It's a monocolor pearl white/ice, with a few black and grey spots, and an entirely grey base, far from a difficult paint app. Hardly even an average difficulty paint app, considering what chinese factories have been putting out lately, I recently had to work with a painter and he clearly said that nothing beats skin tone as far as difficulty goes.
Then again, it's true that on a bad day, anything can be hard to pull off. I still think this one is quite overpriced, gotta be honest, I was expecting this price tag on Vader and Boba due to sheer character tax, and more in the low 300's on the Trooper.
At a more reasonable price point, I wouldn't have minded picking up 2x Troopers to display along with Vader as bodyguards, the switch out options do allow for some variation and I think it would have been quite an awesome display. Worst thing is that I can already see this line being dead before even starting.

 

[starscream0]

This is what we're talking about:

It's a monocolor pearl white/ice, with a few black and grey spots, and an entirely grey base, far from a difficult paint app. Hardly even an average difficulty paint app, considering what chinese factories have been putting out lately, I recently had to work with a painter and he clearly said that nothing beats skin tone as far as difficulty goes.
Then again, it's true that on a bad day, anything can be hard to pull off. I still think this one is quite overpriced, gotta be honest, I was expecting this price tag on Vader and Boba due to sheer character tax, and more in the low 300's on the Trooper.
At a more reasonable price point, I wouldn't have minded picking up 2x Troopers to display along with Vader as bodyguards, the switch out options do allow for some variation and I think it would have been quite an awesome display. Worst thing is that I can already see this line being dead before even starting.

Like others have said, I really don't consider this an easy paint job. It's not flat, it has shadows and highlighting and that can be tricky to pull off. There is a lot of detail on the figure. Just because it's grey/black/white doesn't mean that it's simple. There are grooves in the outfit, little details, decals etc.

The price is probably due to the fact that this is Star Wars. Honestly...people freaked out about the price of the Boba Fett PF, then freaked out about the Vader PF price. If this was a different license it may have been cheaper but it's not, it's Star Wars

 

[slynger]

Not happy about the price at all, but I will try to get the first three and I'm really hoping they decide to do a snowtrooper. However, that will depend on the success of the first three. Fett and Vader can't miss, but I can see this stormie being the one that doesn't sell that great.

 

[starscream0]

Not happy about the price at all, but I will try to get the first three and I'm really hoping they decide to do a snowtrooper. However, that will depend on the success of the first three. Fett and Vader can't miss, but I can see this stormie being the one that doesn't sell that great.

I think they may have started with the Stormtrooper for that reason, he's kinda the one people may pass on. If they brought out the big guns first, people may have been disappointed in him after Fett & Vader

 

[slynger]

I think they may have started with the Stormtrooper for that reason, he's kinda the one people may pass on. If they brought out the big guns first, people may have been disappointed in him after Fett & Vader

This is kind of what I thought as well. Fett just has that cult following and McQ's take on Vader has always been popular. Bad thing is, I could see those being $425ish.

 

[furystorm]

This one is actually my favorite of the three.

 

[starscream0]

This is kind of what I thought as well. Fett just has that cult following and McQ's take on Vader has always been popular. Bad thing is, I could see those being $425ish.

Yea, I think Stormie is going to be the "cheapest" . I can see Boba being 419 and Vader being 429 but I'm speculating.

This one is actually my favorite of the three.

That's good! I love them all individually but think they are gonna rock as a set

 

[Jagjaguwar]

Not seeing any specific examples of the "improved" QC here.

But I guess I kinda agree. My 2nd most recent purchase (Mythos Obi-Wan in the second wave release back in November) shipped to me with a foot that was physically unable to fit into the appropriate hole in the base without extensive dremeling of said hole. Even then it's not perfect and the peg under the boot sole sticks up a little. Meanwhile, my most recent SS piece (the sixth scale Scout and Bike combo) fit onto the base fine, although since the base wasn't actually flat, the whole thing toppled over the moment I took a step back from it. And mine needed the use of a knife and some glue to make the bike actually fit together and stay together.

So I guess that is improved, yes. I realize my luck may just be bad of late, but man. Two straight pieces I couldn't even stand up without some modifications on my part seems ridiculous.